[carcanaques]

Are any of you earning at least $100K and making a living solely from trading?

[Reaver]

One doesn't need $100K/year to make a living solely from trading...

[carcanaques]

True. But a six figure income is a good line in the sand. All of the professional traders I know don't earn less than that year in and year out.

I'm really interested in hearing from those who are at that level. Then, I can read their posts here and hopefully gain some knowledge of what seperates them from the others. My impression is the traders here are an honest bunch and don't engage in self delusion.

[Reaver]

I see your point, but it really depends on many different variables.

Trading full time only requires you to be able to pay your bills....that is often not a very high threshold to cross if you are financially responsible....

I don't think that the majority of pro traders make more than $100K unless they work for a prop firm, or have been trading for a long time, etc...I am referring to self-directed traders of course...OPM, etc is a whole different rodeo.

Eventually a good trader will make that much, but I think your income for the first few years especially, will be highly correlated to your inital account size.

ie if you start with $10K which is probably what most traders that aren't already rich will start with...it isn't wise to expect to make $50,000 a year off the bat, much less $100,000....eventually, with proper money management and compounding, yes of course, you would expect a much higher income....

So unless you get lucky as all get out and hit a boom or bubble or something...you aren't reasonably going to expect to make that kind of money unless you start with a bunch in the first place.

[Reaver]

Not to mention I think it's fairly disrespectful to discuss other people's income. It's a highly personal thing. It doesn't directly offend me, but it's not polite to put other people on the spot like that. Maybe it's because I'm Southern or something. But to me that's just bad manners.

[carcanaques]

I don't know any of the people here personally and I doubt anyone else does either, so stepping up isn't a big deal. And besides, trading is ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY. That's how we measure our success. We don't have to ask our neighbors how much money they make if we see a Ferrari sitting in the driveway of their macmansion on a lake next to a country club. We know they got it, but here we know nothing.

The question is only directed to professionals, not novices. I know a handful of pros who make mid six figures in their bathrobes at home, not prop shops. And they all trade size, not nickels and dimes. Starting out undercapitalized with the hope of turning $10K into $100K+ in a highly leveraged instrument like futures is a very low probability trade. The odds are great the account will dissapear.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by carcanaques »

I don't know any of the people here personally and I doubt anyone else does either, so stepping up isn't a big deal. And besides, trading is ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY. That's how we measure our success. We don't have to ask our neighbors how much money they make if we see a Ferrari sitting in the driveway of their macmansion on a lake next to a country club. We know they got it, but here we know nothing.

The question is only directed to professionals, not novices. I know a handful of pros who make mid six figures in their bathrobes at home, not prop shops. And they all trade size, not nickels and dimes. Starting out undercapitalized with the hope of turning $10K into $100K+ in a highly leveraged instrument like futures is a very low probability trade. The odds are great the account will dissapear.

My statement still stands.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by carcanaques »

I don't know any of the people here personally and I doubt anyone else does either, so stepping up isn't a big deal. And besides, trading is ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY. That's how we measure our success. We don't have to ask our neighbors how much money they make if we see a Ferrari sitting in the driveway of their macmansion on a lake next to a country club. We know they got it, but here we know nothing.

The question is only directed to professionals, not novices. I know a handful of pros who make mid six figures in their bathrobes at home, not prop shops. And they all trade size, not nickels and dimes. Starting out undercapitalized with the hope of turning $10K into $100K+ in a highly leveraged instrument like futures is a very low probability trade. The odds are great the account will dissapear.

I don't know of many pro traders that will tell you how much they make, frankly. Maybe in France, where you claim to be from, asking that sort of question is apropos, but where I am from, it's not really a polite question...and in response to your assuming someone is rich based on appearances...from my experience in the mortgage and lending industry..you'd be surprised how many people in big ass houses driving Lexus's and BMW's don't have much money....

Turning $10K into $100K is not that big of a deal (relatively speaking) if you trade right based on probabilities. Grinding it out, that is. You make it sound like unless you're already rich, then you're some sort of fool to be trading with goals of ever becoming wealthy. LOL Please.

I've never met ONE person who started out trading with a large bankroll (ie $20-50K) that ever ended up even remotely profitable. Either they are already rich from having a high paying job or have inherited money...either way, they don't generally respect money the same way someone who started saving every nickel and dime they had. Sort of the same way it is said that those with MBA's and PhD's, etc are handicapped in the trading world due to their biases and generally linear way of thinking and solving problems.